Greece Airspace Shutdown Leaves Thousands Stranded Following Communication Failure

A major radio communications failure forced Greece to temporarily close its airspace on Sunday, grounding thousands of travelers and disrupting flights across Europe.

The outage, which occurred Sunday morning, prompted authorities to suspend all arrivals and departures. While some departing flights from Athens have resumed at a limited capacity of 35 aircraft per hour, inbound flights continue to be diverted to neighboring countries like Turkey or sent back to their points of origin.

Widespread Travel Chaos The disruption hit at the end of the winter holiday season, one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Athens International Airport reported more than 90 affected flights, while Thessaloniki airport was forced to shut down entirely.

Major European hubs, including London, Dublin, Paris, and Barcelona, saw scheduled services to Greece cancelled or turned around mid-flight.

Passengers stranded in Athens expressed frustration over a lack of information, with many worried about missing the start of the work week.

"I'm supposed to be at the hospital tomorrow morning," one traveler told Greek broadcaster Mega TV. "No one is telling us anything."

Cause of the Outage Panagiotis Psarros, head of the Association of Greek Air Traffic Controllers, told public broadcaster ERT that all radio frequencies were "suddenly lost," cutting off contact with aircraft in the sky.

Initial investigations by Greek security services suggest the failure originated from an antenna in the Gerania Mountains near Athens. To manage the ongoing crisis, aviation authorities in Italy, Turkey, and Cyprus are providing regional assistance to redirect air traffic.

While domestic travelers may turn to Greece’s rail network as an alternative, international passengers remain in limbo as technicians work to fully restore the communication systems.